What? A Math Class That is Not All Lecture?

• Needs of college math students today are different but curriculum has NOT kept pace

• Most students do NOT learn math in the traditionally taught way

• Calculus is not the goal nor is it useful for most students

• Statistics and computer science must play a larger roll in math classes

Teaching Practices-Historically geared towards calculus as an entry

level course (Ganter & Barker, 2003) The Death March to Calculus

-Primarily lecture (Dossey, Halvorson, McCrone, 2008)

-Separate courses for algebra, statistics, geometry, computer – SILOS

-Primarily skill-focused with some uninteresting “applications” included in each section

Today’s College Students-Strong growth in enrollment at 2 year colleges-Nearly 1,000,000 college students taking courses

below Calculus in the U.S. (Statistical Abstract Of Undergraduate Programs in the Mathematical Sciences in the U.S. Lutzer, 2005)

-Up to 50% Drop/Withdraw/Fail rate in College Algebra at the college level (Baxter-Hastings, et. al, 2006)

-Only 6% of two-year college students enrolled in Calculus (Lutzer, 2005) – Calculus is NOT for most.

-Students who didn’t succeed in high school math generally don’t succeed in college math (Baxter Hastings, et al., 2006)

-57% of two-year college students are enrolled in remedial courses. (Lutzer, et al., 2005)

-Needs of students have changed!

• Statistical evidence of student learning success in algebra, statistics and computer science

• Research based curriculum• Our class is being taught at multiple

high schools in MN• 85% of students need something other

than the calculus death march• Our class is NOT “just another reform

math class”• Our curriculum is freely available and

we will consult with your school

Bagley High SchoolBemidji High School

Cass Lake-Bena High SchoolClearbrook-Gonvick High School

Fairmont High SchoolFloodwood High School

Grand Rapids High SchoolThief River Falls High School

Win-E-Mac High SchoolNorthwest Technical College

Northland Community and Technical CollegeWhite Earth Tribal and Community College

Red Lake Nation CollegeRed Lake Head Start instructors and pre-service

instructors

CRAFTY study by CUPM-MAA-Looked at partner disciplines needs in 11

workshops across the country: physical sciences, the life

sciences, computer science, engineering, economics, business, education, and some social sciences

-Math faculty just sat back and listened, answered questions

-Published A Collective Vision: Voices of the Partner Disciplines (Ganter & Barker, 2003)

Mathematical Needs of Other Disciplines

-Conceptual understanding-Problem solving skills-Modeling-Communicating mathematically-Balance between mathematical

perspectives-Connection to real world-Use of spread sheets, not calculators

MAA’s CUPM Curriculum Guide (2004) Recommendations for Teaching Students Taking

Minimum Requirements-Offer courses which

+Engage students+Increase quantitative reasoning skills+Strengthen mathematical abilities applicable in other disciplines+Improve student communication of quantitative ideas+Encourage students to take more mathematics

-Examine the effectiveness of College Algebra for meeting the needs of students-Examine whether students succeed in future coursework

AMATYC Standards-Crossroads in Mathematics: Standards for Introductory College Mathematics (1995)-Beyond Crossroads: Implementing College Mathematics in the First Two Years of College (2006)

Agreement in the documents(Baxter Hastings, et al., 2006)

CONTENT:-Lessen the traditional amount of time performing algebraic manipulations; -Decrease time spent executing algorithms simply for the sake of calculation; -Restrict the topics covered to the most essential; -Decrease the amount of time spent lecturing; -Deemphasize rote skills and memorization of formulas.PEDAGOGY:-Embed the mathematics in real life situations that are drawn from the other disciplines; -Explore fewer topics in greater depth; -Emphasize communication of mathematics through discussion and writing assignments; -Utilize group assignments and projects to enhance communication in the language of mathematics; -Use technology to enhance conceptual understanding of the mathematics; -Give greater priority to data analysis;-Emphasize verbal, symbolic, graphical, and written representations-Focus much more attention on the process of constructing mathematical models before finding solutions to these models.

Research on the Course-Study of how well students were able to move between

representations algebraic ideas of slope-Lesh Translation Model

Source: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/rationalnumberproject/03_1.html

Results-Student Understanding-Students could make meaning of the algebra by using

different representations +Explain in writing +Discuss in class-Students could use spreadsheet program technology to

generate representations-Students had the greatest difficulty in writing equations,

although they could interpret equations into scenarios.

Results-ImplementationPedagogy

-Aligns with course designers’ vision -Includes group work, discussion, use of multiple

representations and was student-centered-Computer based lab classroom-Multiple solution paths-Use of spreadsheets instead of calculators

Subject matter-Statistics, computer science and algebra are taught in

tandem

Results-Alignment with Standards-Aligned with NCTM, MAA, AMATYC as summarized by

Baxter Hastings et al., 2006+Active learning+Less skill work +Essential topics+Multiple representations+Discussion+Technology

Overview

Current State

Summary

Educational Partners

Contact Information

Why Change? Recommendations Course Design

In the Classroom

Pedagogical recommendations -Teaching methods for a variety of learning styles – Most students do not learn in the traditional way! -Active learning and in-class problem solving -Collaborative group work and discussions -Out of class projects

Recommendations

Dr. Glen RichgelsDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science

Bemidji State Universitygrichgels@bemidjistate.edu

Dr. Heidi HansenDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science

Bemidji State Universityhhansen@bemidjistate.edu

Dr. Derek WebbDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science

Bemidji State Universitydwebb@bemidjistate.edu